


One of the Drunks

by enbyred



Series: Pray for the Wicked [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Denial, F/F, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Chloé Bourgeois, Light Angst, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 22:50:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyred/pseuds/enbyred
Summary: Chloe has no intention of changing her ways. But maybe the people she cares about have more pull than she'd like to admit.





	One of the Drunks

**Author's Note:**

> Based off Panic! at the Disco's [One of the Drunks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc7GJAMo5SY)  
> Sequel: [Hey Look Ma, I Made It](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18250355)

Pounding in her head was the first thing Chloe's brain became aware of. She groaned, rolling over in bed and pulling the covers over her head, willing some kind person to appear and give her something to drink, along with a large, warm breakfast. If Adrien had come to live with her like she had never asked him to, then she could have counted on him for the treatment she wanted, but no, he went to live with Nino before he planned to get married. Ugh, how gross. What was the point of getting married? Chloe was perfectly happy staying single. She could go out as often as she liked, and make out with whoever she wanted. It wasn't like it mattered the next day.

Though it would have been  _ really _ nice if she had some wonderful person to get her something to eat.

Reaching her hand out from the blankets, she grabbed her phone and unlocked it, immediately wincing at the brightness she hadn't thought to turn down last night. She sent a quick text to Nath, requesting food (and punctuated the text with a series of emojis - hearts and sad faces, mostly). All she had to say was that she wasn't feeling well, and she knew that he would be over in a moment to take care of her.

-

"Don't you think you should slow down?" the guy whose name she couldn't remember asked as she downed her fourth shot.

Slamming it down on the bar, she rolled her eyes. "I didn't come here to get lectured about my drinking habits by a mediocre-looking guy who probably has a boring name."

He opened his mouth to say something, and promptly clamped it shut. A wise choice on his part. In her humble opinion, Chloe's insults only got better the more she drank.

"You don't have to stay here and monitor me, or talk to me at all," she spat. "I mean, if you're waiting to introduce me to your hot sister, then I'm game, but you've gotta show me the sister first."

Rolling his eyes, Mr. Boring And Cautious walked away and, unfortunately, was not replaced with a hot girl. That was okay. She had all night to find someone to make out with.

-

Chloe only moved when she heard her bedroom door open. She moved the blankets down just far enough to see the fiery redhead enter her room with coffee and paper bags containing some fast food that smelled amazing.

"Draw the curtains, would you, Nath?" she mumbled, squinting in the light.

He set the food down on the bedside table and darkened the room for her. Only then did she lower her defenses against the light and slowly sit up.

"Do you know that you're the best?" she asked, reaching for the coffee.

Nath blocked her hand and pushed a glass of water toward her. "Yes, I do, so drink some water before you put coffee into your system."

“You're no fun,” Chloe growled, snatching the water from him.

Nath rolled his eyes. “Yup, staying alive and taking care of your body after you try to destroy your liver is definitely boring. Now drink that water.” Chloe glared and took a few sips of water before reaching over to grab the paper bag.

“It's fine,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I get drunk, I make out with a pretty girl, someone takes care of me in the morning, it works.”

"No, it doesn't." His voice was so stern that Chloe looked up to meet his eyes in surprise.

-

"And what's your name?"

Chloe slid onto the barstool next to a girl she had been eyeing who either had a terrible sixth sense and hadn't felt her staring, or was blatantly ignoring her. It was obviously time to talk to her.

Glancing over with her dark brown eyes, she took a sip of her drink and disinterestedly replied, "Kagami."

"No way!" Sitting up straight, Chloe leaned closer to get a better look at Kagami's face. "From high school? Was in fencing with Adrikins? Like, the hottest girl I've ever met?"

Kagami snorted at the last statement. "I guess so. And what is Chloe Bourgeois doing out by herself?"

Her fingers trailing on Kagami's bare arm, Chloe replied, "Looking for someone like you to spend my time with. Can I buy you a drink?"

"Spoiled Chloe does the spoiling now?"

"Just for you. Just for tonight."

-

"Chlo, this is hurting you. You might not think it is, but it needs to stop. And you're not the only one it hurts. Who do you have nearby?"

She opened her mouth to retort, but faltered before saying, "Y-you, and, uh, Kim…. I have…Sabrina?" Feeling herself cringe on that last one, she knew it wouldn't fly.

Shaking his head, Nath said, "You don't have anyone because you told them that you didn't want them around."

"I did not!"

"'Oh Adrien, don't even think about living with me, I don't want you lecturing me about how I live my life. Live with Nino while you try to figure out when you'll get married.' 'I'm not wasting my precious time trying to mend a relationship with Marinette that was never going to be perfect in the first place.' 'I'll just directly tell Sabrina that I was using her in high school and I don't need her anymore.' Sound familiar?"

She gaped for a moment, trying to figure out something, anything to say. Her heart sank and she leaned back against her headboard.

Staring at her breakfast sandwich, she whispered, "I screwed it all up, didn't I?"

-

"Have you kept up with people from school?"

With a scoff, Chloe shook her head. "Not intentionally. Adrien definitely, and I certainly didn't  _ try _ to keep in contact with Nath, but that's a thing that happened. And, by being friends with Adrien, that kind of forces me to know what's up with Marinette, Nino, and Alya."

Kagami seemed surprised. "You didn't try to keep in contact with anyone but Adrien? Did you hate school that much?"

"No one else was worth my time. I don't need Mylene telling me not to hook up with people, or Alya calling me vapid."

"Did you consider that maybe they've got a point?"

"I think we should cut to asking 'your place or mine?'"

"Neither." Leaving a few euros on the bar, Kagami stood. "You got hot, Chloe, but I'd rather not deal with your baggage. Have fun finding a hookup. Get my number from Adrien when you decide that you're ready to get your shit together."

-

"I mean," Chloe muttered, almost quietly enough that she wasn't sure Nath could hear her, "at least there wasn't a stranger in my bed this morning?"

Unlocking his phone, Nath told her, "There wouldn't have been if you had gotten what you wanted, anyway." He turned his phone toward her and showed her a text conversation. "Kagami texted me that you were hitting on her last night and that you're a wreck. We agreed that it's time you listened to someone when we say that you need help."

She had heard over and over again that the first step to recovery was to admit that she had a problem. And yet, those words did not want to leave her mouth. How many people would she be proving right by saying she had a drinking problem? Everyone she didn't want to be right. Nath, Adrien, Alya, Marinette, Nino, her father…admitting to herself that she had a problem would be giving express permission to all of them to say "I told you so," and that was simply not going to happen. She was the one who got to tell people so, it was no one else's place to tell  _ her _ so.

"Chlo."

Nath's voice brought her back to her bedroom, where she glared at him.

A gentle hand on her knee, he said, "You know that I'm saying this because I care about you."

She swatted him away. "You sound just like my father. I'm allowed to have fun."

"Yeah? And why do you feel the need to go out all the time to have  _ so much _ fun?"

_ Because when I hook up with cute girls, at least someone is making me feel wanted. _

"Because I like it."

Nath sighed and stood. "Fine, you're gonna be stubborn about it. But you're going to think about it, you're going to talk about it when you're drunk, then won't be able to get it off your mind when I don't bring you anything for your hangover. Then you'll come around and put your pride aside for long enough to stop killing yourself." He left the room before she could get a chance to reply.

Groaning, Chloe pulled the covers up over her head and stared absently at the sheets. This wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he was telling her how to live her life. It's not like he had any real pull over her. She could take care of herself, she didn't need an errand boy for her hangovers. She could suck it up and go outside to get herself some damn coffee.

And yet…

She unlocked her phone and typed out a search, trying to power through the severe discomfort she felt in her stomach when looking at the results.

_ Substance abuse therapists in Paris, List of best alcohol addiction therapists, How to get control over drinking _ .

Every cell in Chloe's body told her to delete her search, to lock her phone and go back to sleep, to ignore Nathanael and Kagami. What did they know? They had no idea about her health and her life. Kagami couldn't say that Chloe had baggage because Kagami didn't  _ know _ her. They hadn't spoken since high school. It wasn't Kagami's call to make.

It was her own.

Hands shaking, she tapped on a website and scrolled to their phone number, dialing it before she could back out.

"Good morning," she said when the receptionist picked up. "I'm wondering if any of your substance abuse therapists are taking new patients."


End file.
